Early 20th century German philosopher Heidegger talked about the two states in human existence: (1) 'Thrownness': Man is always in a world, and his birth is 'a state of him being thrown into a world', i.e. his existence is not created by himself but is a fact. (2) Fallenness: Man is often entangled by the world's everyday concerns and projects, and his mind and soul is immersed in insignificant matters; this fallenness is expressed in man's idle talk, curiosity and ambiguity.

Heidegger pointed out that, being in the world, man's authentic existence is lost due to his thrownness and fallenness. In order to bring out the authentic existence, man must break through the thrownness and realize that man's freedom is not simply defined by the past, but he can also become 'the future'; to an authentic man, there are always new possibilities before him. In order to shake off fallenness, man needs to face his own responsibilities, not allowing his life to be spent on futile matters; man needs to be responsible to the world and even to himself. Heidegger was basically correct in his description of man. Man senses his own limitedness and is anxious about death. Because of that anxiousness, man is forced to seek the meaning of existence. This seeking brings man into the domains of philosophy and theology. Philosophy questions the structure of existence, while theology asks about the meaning of existence.

As Augustine said, God created man in His own image, man ought to know Him and it would only be natural for man to return to God. After man sinned, man no longer knows God but he still thinks of Him who is without limit and that thought became man's ultimate concern. Sadly, the void which should be filled by God is often taken up by things limited, such as money, idol, fame and fortune. Worship of these greatly blasphemes the true God. Since limited things cannot replace God in satisfying souls; man resorts to continuous pursuits of things and that leads to continuous disappointment. Man ought to return to God and enjoy true freedom without having to chase after things, but unfortunately man will not and carries on with such labors. Some moral disciplines are good in themselves, but man's virtues pale in comparison to God’s holy goodness. If man admits his limitedness, he ought to strive for perfect goodness. But man often holds on to his virtues and rejects God’s perfect goodness; this stubbornness makes virtues into vices.

Why can man obtain the most valuable and perfect goodness only when he returns to God? In his famous work "Being and Time" Heidegger pointed out that man is often immersed in entanglements of life, and the way out is for him to return to the self-being instead of existing separately. The created does not possess self, because this self must be shown only in the revelation of the Creator. Just as a chair's purpose of existence cannot be apart from the craftsman who created it. Stability from the chair's four legs and comfort from its back are not there for the chair itself, but for the people using it. God created man and gave him a greater value than angels'. Psalm 8 says, "You made [man] a little lower than God, and crowned him with glory and honor", showing that man has a very high status. Further, man has free will to continually make a future and break new grounds. Because of this freedom man becomes fearless of the vast universe and future unknowns. However, if man leaves God, this freedom will very quickly consume his life, giving him no rest even to the end.

The Christian faith affirms God's will for men to return to Him. He even gave His own Son in order to accomplish redemption. However we must ask why God paid this price for men's salvation? If man's destiny is immaterial, God's redemption is also without meaning. If, for example, a family member parked his car illegally, other members would not make great efforts to help him to face the penalty; but if his offence was punishable by death, then the whole family would do all they could to save him. In 2005 a young Australian man was accused of drug trafficking in Singapore and conviction could lead to a death sentence, and his family, human rights organizations and even the Australian government all pleaded for him.

The destiny of humankind is just as that described in the Book of Genesis, i.e. Man is separated form God because of sin; that is the belief in Christianity and we must proclaim this clearly to the world. You can ignore it, but if it is a fact to happen to everyone then your denial, ridicules or insults cannot change that fact. This is the situation we are facing today, and it is also the fundamental responsibility of Christianity of the century.